Community Activist Claims Kenneka Jenkins Walked Into Hotel Freezer

Chicago community activist said Thursday that surveillance video from a Rosemont hotel shows Kenneka Jenkins entering a walk-in freezer alone.

Andrew Holmes, who has worked with many police agencies during his years of anti-violence activism, told the Tribune that Rosemont detectives showed him the video Wednesday when he showed up seeking answers on behalf of the family.

He said the video shows Jenkins, 19, waiting in the lobby of the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare Hotel after her friends apparently went up to the room in which they had been partying to retrieve some possessions. Jenkins then takes the elevator to a lower level and wanders around, opening doors in an apparently disoriented manner, he said.

Finally, he said, Jenkins opens two doors in a kitchen area and enters the walk-in freezer. The doors close behind her and Jenkins is seen no more, he said.

Holmes said he was convinced no one else forced Jenkins into the area where she died. But he said the family is awaiting toxicology tests to see whether narcotics had been put into her drink.

“The important part is we all wanted to know: Did anybody call her down there?” he said. “Did anybody force her down there? Was there anybody on the other side of the room when she got down there? And the answer to that is no.”